


Together We'll Duck Into the Night

by All_The_Monsters



Series: 16 Glenya Requests [4]
Category: Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 06:01:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18088781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_The_Monsters/pseuds/All_The_Monsters
Summary: Request: Anya gets arrested before they leave for Paris; Gleb confronts her in prison, but takes pity seeing how the guards are treating her, then decides to guard her himself, and they start bonding from thereAnya smiled up at him. "You'll watch over me?""Gleb smiled back. "Of course.""Still?" Anya asked."Still." Gleb smiled down at her.





	Together We'll Duck Into the Night

Anya huddled on the cold concrete floor in the corner of her cell and shivered at the cold. It had never seemed this bad before, back under the bridge, but now it was nearly unbearable. Her fingers had gone numb hours ago and she prayed fervently for the morning sun to rise and warm the cold earth. 

Why, Anya wondered to herself, why had she chosen to trust those con-men? It most definitely wasn't worth it, they'd run at the first sight of the cheka, turning their backs on Anya and allowing her to be captured even when she'd cried out for their help, but they were long gone. In her contempt and bitterness Anya cursed them under her breath before cursing herself for being so stupid. A flash of light blinded her and Anya raised a hand looking towards the high window on the other side of the cell where sunlight had just begun to pour in. She could hear shouting from down the hall as one the guards arrived to deliver the only meal she'd receive today. Anya could also make out the groans of the other prisoner's walking. She was lucky in the fact the she had a cell to herself, rather than being forced to share the small space with ten others. But who knew how long that would last. 

A sharp rattling at the bars to her cell startled Anya from her stupor. Looking up Anya met the eyes of a stony faced guard. At least it wasn't the other one, Kalvsky, she'd heard him called, he made her neck prickle the way he looked at her and sneered. Anya thanked god that he'd never been alone with her during her stay, and she shuddered at the thought of what might happen if he indeed found her alone.  Anya watched silently as the guard tossed a moldy crust of bread onto the floor before turning and leaving. Crawling forward on numb hands she took the stale bread from the ground and inspected it, try to determine if it would do more harm to eat it than it would not to. Reluctantly Anya gave into the temptation of her rumbling stomach and brought the bread up to her mouth to nibble at it, trying her best to ignore the taste and swallow her meager breakfast. Vaguely Anya wondered how much longer she'd be here. Many of the other prisoners here came and went just as the sun and moon traded places in the sky, but she herself seemed to be constant. Deep down Anya knew it would be only a matter of time before she was killed, be it in some Gulag or by some soldier with a gun. 

She could here the jeers of the guards as they began their rounds.  

"Well, well, well. Look who it is, the Grand Duchess herself!" Anya looked up and narrowed her eyes at the trio of soldiers who stood outside her cell. She recognized the one who'd spoken as none other than Kalvsky. 

"Awe, you're scaring her Kalvsky." The man flanking his right spoke. 

"Who cares, I think she's even cuter when she's scared, Shtovo. What do you think, Vagagnov? Shame she's a rotten apple, real Russian beauty there." Kalvsky spoke elbowing the man on his left, who regarded her uncomfortably. "Common', be a dear and give the lad a smile." Kalvsky addressed Anya directly this time, the sneer pulling at his features once more.

Anya settled for glaring at Kalvsky and Shtovo. Shifting her gaze over to the one called Vaganov Anya found him looking between his leering comrades and herself almost apologetically. 

"We have patrols to do." Vaganov reminded the other two in an almost bored tone before continuing his way down the corridor. 

"Right, well zaika(bunny), we'll be seeing you again." Kalvsky and his companion snickered before wondering off down the hall after Vaganov. 

Anya watched their retreating forms and released the breath she'd been holding. It'd taken everything in her not to shudder when Kalvsky had called her zaika(bunny). The officer had deemed that her pet name for him and she hated it more than she hated the man, and that was saying something. She'd long grown used to the demeaning comments he made every day, though today he had been nicer than usual, Anya suspected it had something to do with the new guard, Vaganov. There seemed to be something different about him. The way her looked at her, he seemed to want to say something but think better of it.  Sighing Anya retreated back against the cold wall in the back of her cell and curled up on herself, desperately trying to preserve what little body heat she could. 

Anya didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she was awoken by someone flicking pebbles at her. Opening her eyes Anya sat up and looked around confused. Blinking away the blurriness in her eyes Anya saw the figure in front of her come into focus. Wearily she eyed the man whom she now remembered was called Vaganov. He had an incriminating pebble in his hand and was looking back over his shoulder as if he was afraid of being caught. As he turned back to her and prepared to flick the small rock in her direction he met her gaze. 

"Oh..." Vaganov looked down at the pebble in his hand for a second, "sorry." 

"What do you want." Anya spoke wearily, her tone making the question come out more of a statement. 

"To apologize." Vaganov said. 

"Why?" Anya asked, tilting her head to the side and trying figure out the soldier's motives, still suspicious of the man in front of her. 

"My comrades shouldn't have said those things, or anything of the like." He had the decency to look embarrassed. 

Shrugging Anya shifted and made herself as comfortable as one could be in the concrete cell. "It happens all the time." She said nonchalantly. 

"Yes, but the point is it shouldn't." Vaganov said firmly. 

"Why do you care." Anya snapped. 

Vaganov looked as if he were about to answer before a sound echoed down the corridor stealing his attention."I have to go." He said quickly before turning and hurrying off down the hall. 

Curiosity got the better of Anya and she crept forward until she was leaned against the rusted bars, hand grasping at them and watching Vaganov's retreating from. A passing guard banged his baton on the cell bars causing Anya to startle and jerk back. She could do nothing but wonder at the small act of kindness Vaganov had showed her when no other had done nothing but snicker and make unsavory comments. Looking out the small barred window Anya could tell it was getting late and their must've been a shift change recently clued not only by Vaganov's visit when the day guard was gone but also by the arrival of none other than Kalvsly. 

"Well hello, my darling zaika(bunny)." Anya bristled at Kalvsky's words. "You're looking especially ravishing tonight." 

She subconsciously wrapped her arms around herself as he eyed her like a starving man in front of a feast. 

"Honeyed words turn bitter and lose their charm when whispered for one's own benefit." Anya spoke coolly, surprising herself. This seemed to throw Kalvsky off, for the time being, as he grunted took up his post outside the door. Anya leaned back against the wall and tried not to shiver to hard at the cold. She never slept when Kalvsky was on duty, after all, he had keys to her cell and who knew what he'd try if and when she fell asleep. If his remarks were anything to go off of... Anya shuddered once more at the thought. By the time shift change came in late in the night, Anya's eyes were already drooping and her body ached from malnutrition and cold. 

"You can sleep now, it's safe." Anya looked up in alarm at the new soldier who'd take up post outside her cell. "Promise." Vaganov said. 

"You swear I am safe, but from what?" Anya spoke softly after a thick silence settled over them. 

"Anything you want to be safe from." Came Vaganov's reply. 

"What about you?" Anya dared ask, "Can you protect me from even yourself?" 

At this Vaganov tilted his head at her and regarded her carefully. 

"Do they touch you, the others?" He asked quietly. 

"No." Anya spoke and Vaganov seemed to hear the Not yet, that hung in the air. "But the comments they make would lead one to fear certain things." 

He regarded her through dark eyes once more before speaking again.

"Nonetheless, you are safe, after all, what is a guard's job?" Vaganov spoke. 

"Isn't it to guard the outside world from me?" Anya asked sharply.

"Maybe it's to guard you from the outside world." Vaganov said evenly with a tone of calm that seemed to spread to Anya. 

He was right, maybe she shouldn't look a gift horse in the face. With that Anya finally allowed her eyes to droop shut falling into a strangely peaceful sleep. 

The next few days passed similar to this; Anya would wake up to find Vaganov gone and the morning guard in his place, she'd be given her only meal of the day, moldy bread, then she'd catch up on sleep only to be awoken by Vaganov in the middle of shift change before he left and Kalvsky would take up his shift, making lewd comments the entire time, the Vaganov would return and take his place. Thus the cycle started again. 

Once she'd asked Vaganov (Who's name she'd learned was Gleb,) when he slept due to how often she saw him around the prison and learned that he sleep nearly less than she. Over time Anya had come to look forward to Gleb's visits, feeling somehow safer than she should in his presence. They would talk about everything and nothing, Anya sitting as close to the bars as she dared, Gleb sitting on the other side. Anya found she thoroughly enjoyed his story telling. He would use animated hand gestures and facial expressions, and sometimes he would even go as far as to imitate voices, never failing to make Anya laugh. The first time she'd laughed Gleb had stopped mid sentence and stared at her. Anya had looked shyly back up at him and smiled softly, heat stinging her cheeks. Gleb had smiled back and that was when it had all started. It was in that moment Anya felt a spark of something for the goofy soldier in front of her. 

Suddenly her cell didn't seem so cold and life so bad, as long as she'd get to see Gleb before the day was through. Anya had begun to forgo even the sleep she desperately needed after Kalvsky left just to spend more time with Gleb. They were talking again one night and Anya found herself grateful (and not for the first time) for the obscure positioning of her cell, the only way to see it was to round a sharp corner and suddenly be there. The hall was also extremely echoey, so anyone coming in their direction could be heard in time to move back to their proper positions rather than sitting on the floor as close to one another as the bars would allow. Anya leaned her head against the bars wishing they would disappear and she could lean on Gleb's shoulder. She could feel him reach through the bar to hold her hand and knew he felt the same. Looking over she met his deep brown eyes, which seemed to to glow with a certain warmth. Slowly Gleb reached his hand through the bars and placed it on her cheek. Anya felt herself leaning forward towards him. She glanced down at his lip at back up at his eyes and found their noses were nearly touching. 

Suddenly his lips were on hers and it warm and soft and magical, and right, just completely right, as if everything thing in the universe had corrected itself and she wasn't a prisoner and he wasn't a guard and then it all seemed wrong, just wrong, wrong, wrong. Anya pulled back upon this realization and felt her heart break. 

"Gleb... we can't..." Anya spoke softly. 

"Why not?" He asked even though Anya knew he knew why. 

"Because I will be dead before the year is over," at this Gleb began to protest but Anya cut him off, "no Gleb, you know it's true." Gleb shook his head in denial and looked down at the ground. "And...I love you Gleb, I do, and that's why I can't hurt you like this. You'll find someone else Gleb-" 

"You love me?" Gleb asked and a blush rose in Anya's cheeks. 

"Yes." She admitted quietly. 

"Anya, I love you too. And that's why I won't let you die." Gleb spoke softly through the bars  

"How?" Anya asked, daring to let hope arise in her chest. 

"I can't tell you now. There're ears everywhere. Do you trust me?" Gleb spoke barely above a whisper. 

"Yes." Anya looked Gleb straight in the eye. 

"Good." Gleb said before he stood and returned to his post. 

"Gleb, what if someone finds out? You'll be shot." Anya whispered harshly. 

"We'll just have to be careful then." Gleb replied with a pointed look. "Sleep it's getting late." 

Anya smiled up at him. "You'll watch over me?" 

"Gleb smiled back. "Of course."

"Still?" Anya asked. 

"Still." Gleb smiled down at her.

The next morning when Anya bit into her stale end piece of bread she was surprised when she tasted something decidedly not bread or mold. Discretely pulling it out of her mouth Anya found a folded up slip of paper had been hidden in her daily meal. Making sure no one was watching Anya tucked the paper away into her shirt and continued as if nothing had happened. Gleb's words from the night before rang in her head. 

We'll just have to be careful then.

It wasn't until the few precious minutes of shift change when no one was around Anya was able slip the paper out of it's holding place and read the note. 

Next week, during the new moon when it is darkest out. 

After memorizing the note Anya tore it up into the smallest of peices and mixed it in with the dirt on the ground. 

That night Gleb quietly shared the details of his plan with her. Gleb had begun slipping food to Anya in order for her to gain as much strength as possible for the escape, as it was her malnourished form wouldn't make it out of the complex. 

And Anya had finally begun to see a light at the end of the tunnel, everything was going right. Which just begged for something to go wrong. It was just as it was any other night, the only thing off was the strangely pleasant and malicious look Kalvsky wore his entire shift and the lack of uncomfortable comments. Gleb had come and as soon as shift change was over and once they were certain no one was coming turned and reached through the bars, drawing Anya into a kiss and counting down the days with her until the would they free. 

"Three more days." Gleb whispered, stroking her cheek as best he could through the bars to her cell. 

"There they are!" Came a shout shout from behind them and Gleb whirled around in surprise.

There standing in front of a group of soldiers and Gorlinsky himself stood Kalvsky an evil grin painting his features. "I told you he was a traitor." Kalvsky said, sounding as though he was thoroughly enjoying this. 

"What can I say, Kalvsky, your right. A real Russian beauty. Shame I've never gotten to see her smile. Plays hard enough to get, they all do, talk them up enough and you can get what you want." Gleb said, an expression Anya had never seen before settling on Gleb's face. 

It took her a moment to realize what Gleb was playing at. He was trying save her, she realized. Make it seem he'd been forcing himself on to her. 

"Yes," Kalvsky sneered, "but I never act on my words." Anya knew that was a blatant lie.

"Real shame. Especially with her." Gleb jerked his head back in her direction. 

Gleb no, Anya thought desperately, watching frightened as Gleb was seized by two other guards and Gorlinsky turned to her. "Then you won't mind if we kill him then." He said as a gun was shoved roughly to the back of Gleb's head by a third guard. 

Anya made the fatal mistake of flinching and letting out a small squeak as the trigger was pulled only to realize that the firearm had never been properly cocked and loaded. At her reaction Gleb let his head drop and she could hear him curse under his breath.

"Get her." Gorlinsky spat as another guard rushed forward producing the keys to her cell and slamming it open. 

The man grabbed Anya roughly by the shoulders and dragged her her out to stand next to Gleb. 

"Chekhov," at Gorlinsky's beckoning and older white haired man in uniform stepped forward. "take these traitors out to the woods and shoot them." At this new turn of events Kalvsky looked quiet bitter, it was clear he'd wanted that job himself but knew better than to protest.

"Yes sir." Chekhov said without question and pointed his weapon at the two of them. 

"Walk." He barked and began to escort them out of the building. 

As soon as they entered the woods Anya clung tight to Gleb, her heart beating wildly. Gleb had wrapped his arm around her in turn, holding her close. There was an unspoken knowledge that this was to be the first and last time they'd be able to hold each other without bars prohibiting them. After they had walked sometime Anya's heart stopped as Chekhov shouted for them to stop. 

"That's far enough." He raised his gun once more. 

Anya felt a tear escape her eye and her breath shudder in fear as Gleb wrapped both arms around her holding her as close to him as possible before reaching around to turn her head into his chest so she couldn't see. Gratefully Anya buried her head into his uniform shirt, she'd never felt this scared in her life. Anya vaguely felt Gleb place his lips to the crown of her head and burying his nose in her hair before the gunshots rang out.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Both of them flinched with every shot fired, waiting for the pain, but when none came and the last shot had echoed into the night they pulled away from each other slightly in confusion. Gleb looked her over before pulling her back close to him and looking over to Chekhov. Anya followed his gaze over to the old man, who seemed to suddenly find the foliage interesting. Finally he looked back at the couple and addressed them in a reserved sort of way. 

"Go, Glebka, Russia is no place for you. Take her and run. Go! Leave Russia and run!" 

Gleb didn't wait to hear more before taking Anya's hand and they were off running through the thick forest, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the certain death behind them. They ran until the sun started to rise. Sometime during the night they'd found a road and followed it into the morning, ducking into the bushes and hiding when they heard anything that sounded remotely like it could be a car. Around mid morning the pair stumbled across an abandoned Cossack style home and barn. Ducking into the worn and battered barn they dared stop and rest. 

Gleb had left his uniform jacket somewhere along the way leaving him in his Henley and trousers, and had given Anya his heavy coat as well when the chill of the night had managed to get passed the adrenaline. Together they curled up on a pile of hay out of sight and held each other close, the olive green coat draped over the both of them.

"That's not exactly the escape I had in mind." Gleb mused quietly. 

"Sometimes all you need is a hail Mary." Anya replied and Gleb smiled down at her. 

"Where should we go?" Gleb asked. 

"As long as we're together, I don't care." Anya looked up at him from her place resting on his chest. 

Gleb leaned down and captured Anya's lips in his own. 

"I've always like the idea of Paris, though." Anya admitted as the kiss ended.

"Paris it is, then." Gleb whispered. 

Anya hummed contentedly before falling asleep, Gleb quickly following.

**Author's Note:**

> Send in your request to allthemonsters02@gmail.com using 'Glenya Request' in the subject box. Please leave any questions, comments, concerns, and or interpretive dances in the comment section below.


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